Ethan Stade

NEW ULM — New Ulm’s Ethan Stade said his Major League Baseball tryout this past Saturday at Comerica Park in Detroit went really well.

“I got to face a couple of batters — got two strikeouts and a pop-out,” he said. “Everything felt good — body felt good and my pitches were moving well.”

Stade said that there were about 16 players who were invited to the tryout.

“When we got there, we had balance-testing, mobility, grip strength and jump tests,” he said. “They told us to have fun and this was just to show a couple more people that have not seen you to show what you can do. After I was done, I had people come up and and say I was fun to watch and [did] a great job and they were looking forward to making some phone calls coming up.”

Stade said that his next step in baseball is happening in Youngstown, Ohio, area.

“I am playing in the MLB Draft League,” he said. “I will play here for about another month until July 5, and then I will come back to New Ulm to be with family for a little while.”

The MLB draft is July 12 and 13 in Philadelphia.

“I am hoping to get drafted,”said the left-handed Stade. “And I did talk to a couple of teams — the Tampa Bay Rays called me and asked me questions and said that they submitted me to the draft. The California Angels scout came up to me at an MLB draft game — talked to me about one of my games he was at in the spring [when pitching for Bowling Green] and he sent in some video and information on me. And the Tigers are obviously on the table as well. And the Twins, Cubs and Giants have also shown interest.”

Stade said that if he does not get his name called he said that he wants to play pro baseball somewhere in an independent league.